Highlights from Transform Newsletter, July 29, 2015

In this week’s issue of Transform newsletter, we turn our attention to foodborne illness, and how open data can help reduce the number of cases diagnosed each year.

Prioritizing with open data: There’s a very, very wide gap between the number of restaurants in Chicago, and the number of inspectors. With the help of datasets — from NOAA, 311, and the Health Department — food inspection forecasting allows inspectors to prioritize. See the recipe for civic success.

Standards matter: Depending on the city, inspectors may give restaurants a letter grade, a numeric score, or a color ranking. This patchwork of evaluation practices can make it hard for diners to readily know safety levels. With Local Inspector Value-Entry Specification (LIVES) open standards, this data can be normalized. Find out more about the project, and see how to get involved.

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